This Wall Chart Shows Every Species in the Cat Kingdom

A cat is still a cat, whether it’s a domesticated Bengal or its larger, wilder relative, the leopard cat. In celebration of all things feline, Pop Chart created a wall print showing the many different types of cat, as well as your fur baby’s place in the kitty kingdom.

“The Chart of Cats” breaks the kingdom down by genus, highlighting the fact that the humble domesticated cat (Felis catus) shares a category with the scruffy-looking Chinese mountain cat as well as the diminutive yet adorable black-footed cat of Africa. (I mean, just look at that face).

“We’ve charted and illustrated to scale the full family felidae with this paw-sitively pleasing print, including all extant and notable species—from the lordly lion, to the ostentatious ocelot, to even extinct entries like the jaw-dropping sabertooth tiger,” Pop Chart writes in its description of the poster.

Pop Chart

It even provides an evolutionary timeline, which begins with the extinct Proailurus cat—a small carnivorous animal that resembled a mongoose or civet—about 30 million years ago. The more modern-looking Pseudaelurus evolved about 20 million years ago, and sabercats emerged 10 million years ago.

It wasn’t until fairly recently—just 10,000 years ago—that cats became domesticated. And in typical cat fashion, they domesticated themselves and decided to start living in harmony with humans around the same time that humans settled down and started farming the land.

If you love cats as much as we do, you can pre-order this $30 print from Pop Chart’s website. Orders ship on February 5.

A Nubian Goat Named Lincoln Was Just Sworn in as the Mayor of Fair Haven, Vermont

Lincoln the goat may not be housebroken, but she had no problem winning the race for mayor of Fair Haven, Vermont. The new mayor was officially sworn in on Tuesday, March 12, and before signing the oath of office with her hoof print, she marked the occasion by defecating on the town hall floor, the Boston Globe reports.

Prior to getting into politics, Lincoln the droopy-eared Nubian goat lived a simple life. A local family looking for a way to maintain the unruly vegetation on their property had purchased her two years ago when she was 1 year old. At age 3, Lincoln transitioned from munching grass full-time to running for public office.

Though Lincoln's win is impressive, her election didn't involve beating any human candidates. Town Manager Joseph Gunter came up with the idea to hold an election for honorary pet mayor of Fair Haven as way to raise money for a new playground. For a $5 fee, local kids were allowed to nominate the pet of their choice to be town mayor. Lincoln bested more than a dozen candidates, including a gerbil named Crystal and a pacifier-sucking dog named Stella, for the position.

The stunt didn't raise much money—the town came away with just $100 for the playground—but it did earn Fair Haven international attention. In order to go down in history as world's longest-serving animal mayor, Lincoln has to stick around for a while; Stubbs the cat was mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska for 20 years.

The 10 Most Popular Puppy Names of 2019

If you brought home a new dog or puppy recently and named it Luna, you’re far from the only one. The name, which means moon in Latin, is the most popular puppy name for 2019.

This analysis of cute canine monikers comes from Trupanion, a provider of medical insurance for pets. The company looked at its database of 500,000 dogs and crunched the numbers to identify the names that are currently having a moment. (Although some of the names that cracked the top 10 list, like Daisy and Max, have been around for quite some time.)

Interestingly, Luna wasn’t always popular. As Trupanion points out, “Looking back 10 years, Luna was barely a blip on the name game chart … not even cracking the list of top 20 names.” Nor did it appear on ​Banfield Pet Hospital's list of the 10 most popular dog names of 2018.

Often, there's some overlap between popular pet names and baby names. Luna was the 31st most popular baby name for girls in 2018. This is perhaps linked to the popularity of the Harry Potter character Luna Lovegood, as well as the publicity the name has received in recent years from celebrities like John Legend and Chrissy Teigen and Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, as both couples named their daughters Luna.

Second on the list of popular puppy names is Bella (its longer form, Isabella, was the fifth most popular baby name for girls last year). Check out the top 10 list below to see if your pooch’s name is trending right now.